Nathan Chen wins figure skating gold; Kagiyama takes silver, bronze for Uno

Kagiyama, the future of figure skating in Japan after Hanyu retires

N. Chen - seriously a cut above in these championships.

That the other top 3 performed at such high levels only makes his performance even more remarkable.

And interesting that after the last olympic disappointment, he enrolled at Yale and combined full time study with World Championship wins over the ensuing years. He took off last year to focus on olympics but will return to study this year.

More world class athletes should follow this line and have a life outside of their sports field.

Certainly has propelled Nathan to the front.

Hanyu is the only true artist, all the others are just mechanics and are not worth watching... I feel and remember absolutely nothing from their performances!

Paul, did you really watch the other's? Hanyu was good the top 3 were better, especially Chen. He was completely on a different level above everyone else. Plus he's a classy guy.

That was a great performance from Chen. And I bet very few people were even thinking of Kagi-kun as everyone just assumed Hanyu would be the closest rival to Chen. I have to say, there does seem to be a certain bias toward Hanyu. Surprised he even managed 4th. His Vancouver performance was even worse and yet he still managed to win gold. Congrats to the 3 medal winners.

Paul:

Cry ab it.

No doping required here.

I just felt that time had caught up with Hanyu. He is a great artistic skater, but his legs failed him. Chen is only 22 and will have a chance to compete again in Italy, but I bet there will be more youngsters nipping at his skates!

"He came close, but couldn’t quite hold onto the landing, then fell again on his quad salchow before an emotional finish to what could be his final performance on Olympic ice."

Should have quit a while ago. Now a lot of the people who were already willing to lick his gold medal and polish it for him are left silent. The news BARELY showed him last night after his first outing, except to blame it on the hole that was only there for Hanyu, of course. Now it is silence -- he goes out with a whimper.

Paul: "Hanyu is the only true artist, all the others are just mechanics and are not worth watching... I feel and remember absolutely nothing from their performances!"

So, then the only one you DO remember is the guy who fell and couldn't land his jumps? Quite the judge of artists, I guess.

Me:

His Vancouver performance was even worse

My bad. I meant Sochi.

I watched the medal ceremony on NHK. A Japanese athlete has won silver, a Japanese athlete has won bronze, and all the commentators talk about is Hanyu.

@Ascissor,

That is Japan in a nutshell.

Always begging it up but not actually appreciating the little men.

I watched the medal ceremony on NHK. A Japanese athlete has won silver, a Japanese athlete has won bronze, and all the commentators talk about is Hanyu.

Did they mention who won the gold?

It's that time every 4 years where the skating experts come out of the woodwork.

Good thing they have judges to decide these things and not JT readers, otherwise the guy that fell less would win, no matter how boring the performance.

Good thing they have judges to decide these things and not JT readers, otherwise the guy that fell less would win, no matter how boring the performance.

The judges like have a history of cheating, I can't think of any sports that the scoring seems to be based on the athletes past reputation. Unbelievable, falling twice and improving on his 8th position in the short program and ending fourth. It is like the judges tried for him to win a medal but couldn't.

Love Shoma's artistry and never-give-up spirit. Congratulations on your second individual Olympic medal!

The judges like have a history of cheating, I can't think of any sports that the scoring seems to be based on the athletes past reputation. Unbelievable, falling twice and improving on his 8th position in the short program and ending fourth. It is like the judges tried for him to win a medal but couldn't.

Exactly… they were really trying to get him up there for a medal. 8th to 4th despite twice falling down…lol ! It would have been a real shame if they somehow gave him the second or third place medal at the expense of the other two Japanese. There was no way he would have won gold because Chen was just on another level! But luckily the two Japanese winners weren’t cheated out by giving Hanyu a medal that they truly deserved since they performed much much better than Hanyu on this occasion!

The judges like have a history of cheating, I can't think of any sports that the scoring seems to be based on the athletes past reputation. Unbelievable, falling twice and improving on his 8th position in the short program and ending fourth. It is like the judges tried for him to win a medal but couldn't.

Not trying to take sides here, but his score was modest considering the level of difficulty his entire program was based on. Making an attempt and failing will give you a deduction, but if his attempt was on a difficult move (like his quad axel) he will still get a good score for attempting the move. Jason was phenomenal and his performance was perfect, but his program lacked the difficulty that the top 4 players had.

Congrats, Chen is definitely the undisputed king - with the Olympic gold cementing it

Before being ended by fellow American Zhou (and still the only loss), Chen had been undefeated for 3 years with a winning streak that hadn't been done by Hanyu, Patrick Chan, Mao Asada, or even Yuna Kim. Not since Yevgeny Plushenko nearly two decades ago. (Unfortunately, Zhou tested positive for Covid and thus couldn't be there to challenge Chen)

Now he's won gold over the next closest competitor 22+ points away - and has the Top 3 (and 5 out of the Top 6) highest scores ever

Then he's going back to Yale University in August, lol

@Paul it must have been the hole in the ice again RIGHT!! Or was it the pressure of better prepared skaters. Yes its time to retire but without excuses.

Hanyu is the only true artist, all the others are just mechanics and are not worth watching... I feel and remember absolutely nothing from their performances!

Great performance by Nathan Chen. I liked the last part of it where he just let loose and swagged it (if that is even a word). Kagiyama gave a great performance and I think he has a very strong possibility on the next Olympics (18 years old). Soma is good, but I do not think he will ever win gold unless if he improves. Hanyu is/was the GOAT and his artistry is still magnificent, but times have changed and he is 27 years old (the old man in the room), so I think he is still good, but can no longer medal and it may be time for him to leave while still at the top of his game. Take a look at Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Buster Posey (MLB catcher for my SF Giants).

Hanyu is still the best in my books. Every athlete will have their demise someday and will have to retire. Figure skating is a sport that is brutal on your body and mind due to countless jumps, twists and spins during long, grueling practices. It will eventually take its toll for early retirements at early ages. I'm sure Chen will win more gold in the future, but he couldn't hold a candle to Hanyu's talents and artistry. Chen will never come close to what Hanyu has ment to a whole country and it's people. And of course the NHK commentators talk about Hanyu even after defeat. That is who the Japanese want to hear about, not Chen.

Toon12,

Hanyu is a very good skater, but hardly the best of all time. There's skaters in the past that have been world champions 4,5,6, and even 10 time's. Hanyu was world champion 2 time's which has been done many time's. I know he was olympic champion twice but so was Richard Button who was also world champion 5 time's and second once.

Tired of hearing about figure skating and Hanyu so I can say I'm quite elated, especially since an American won gold.

Did they mention who won the gold?

Yes, at the very end of the report. NHK described Chen as the skater who "stood in the way" of the Japanese athletes' success. Seriously.

That is who the Japanese want to hear about, not Chen.

Yes, because the Japanese don't really care don't care about sports. For them, international sport is little more than a platform for their potent nationalism. Like how the Japanese journalists pack the media stands at MLB games when a Japanese player is on the roster and then leave the instant the player is relieved, not knowing or caring about the game's outcome.

But luckily the two Japanese winners weren’t cheated out by giving Hanyu a medal that they truly deserved since they performed much much better than Hanyu on this occasion!

Lol, there it is again. If falling meant you get last place, nobody would ever attempt a jump.

Hanyu was trying a jump never even attempted before, and barely missed it.

Believe it or not, each skater has routines with varying difficulty. If the other skaters had missed out on a medal because they didn't push themselves as hard as Hanyu or Chen, it would be fully deserved. They should count themselves lucky that Zhou had to withdraw and Hanyu wasn't at his best.